News Article: NHL season preview of the Toronto Maple Leafs

[Kamiccolo]

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[diehardleafsfan9878]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

 

[Suntouchable13]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

Did I miss his last 30 goal season?

 

[LeafSteel]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

As much as Nylander is easy bait for Leaf trolls, as ugly as the negotiations were (Marner's will be worse), other than burning the 1st year of it last year, Nylander can represent a really good value contract.

People can point at the Panarin contract all they want until they are blue in the face, but if they are going to hold up as an example the poorest, most undervalued contract in the NHL as the poster for all contracts, then their posting agendas won't allow them to be taken seriously by anyone.........

Hoping Nylander lights it up this season and proves a lot of people wrong.

 

[Stamkos4life]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

Do you mean points? Because he's never been a 30 goal scorer but he did get less then 30 points last year.

 

[McSnypsky]

Do you mean points? Because he's never been a 30 goal scorer but he did get less then 30 points last year.

I think he meant Kadri as it was mentioned he could get back to 30 goals

edit ok I heard Johnson say it for nylander; so I guess it was his errorr

 

[Stamkos4life]

I think he meant Kadri as it was mentioned he could get back to 30 goals

Ooo that also makes sense! Except kadri is gone lol

I'm gonna watch the video right meow

 

[PromisedLand]

biggest hole for the Leafs is defensive play

2016-2017
Leafs 9th worst in goals against
Capitals: best in the league in terms of GA

2017-2018
Leafs 20th worst in goals against (huge improvement)
Boston: 4th best in GA

2018-2019
Leafs 12th worst in goals against (serious decline by 8 spots from the previous season - how much of that was Sparks?)
Boston: 3rd best in GA

Leafs need to play well defensively there is no other way to put this. Leafs kryptonite is playing against teams that are very good defensively. all the corsi and the other BS mean absolutely NOTHING!!! Goals and Production matter and DEFENSE matters!!! GF% matters!!!! corsi, xGF and other BS can get the F out

Leafs need to play well defensively or else they are going to be out again in the first round - may be not even make the playoffs. Leafs defense IMO is terrible

 

[Wafflewhipper]

biggest hole for the Leafs is defensive play

2016-2017
Leafs 9th worst in goals against
Capitals: best in the league in terms of GA

2017-2018
Leafs 20th worst in goals against (huge improvement)
Boston: 4th best in GA

2018-2019
Leafs 12th worst in goals against (serious decline by 8 spots from the previous season - how much of that was Sparks?)
Boston: 3rd best in GA

Leafs need to play well defensively there is no other way to put this. Leafs kryptonite is playing against teams that are very good defensively. all the corsi and the other BS mean absolutely NOTHING!!! Goals and Production matter and DEFENSE matters!!! GF% matters!!!! corsi, xGF and other BS can get the F out

Leafs need to play well defensively or else they are going to be out again in the first round - may be not even make the playoffs. Leafs defense IMO is terrible

The teams defense is built entirely different than defensive defensemen! This defense is mobile and built on the offensive/ puck possession side. Making good reads and staying out of getting caught giving up odd man rushes will be key i believe. This style of defense is built for quick strike, stretch pass system more so than last years edition.

The defense unit all playing their very best defensive game would be definitely a positive in terms of success but this is still a question mark as a whole as to how good they will be at reducing shots against and goals against.

Offensively they should be a treat to watch.

 

[meefer]

IMHO this is the most talented Leaf team I've seen since, well...ever.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

IMHO this is the most talented Leaf team I've seen since, well...ever.

Barrie was a solid solid puck up at the cost of a 30 goal center that was better suited to 2nd line center and Kerfoot is the equalization for the lack of term left with Barrie.

The most talented if Marner gets signed i assume you meant. I don't think we get a Marner back in any trade so kind of have to sign him.

 

[deletethis]

IMHO this is the most talented Leaf team I've seen since, well...ever.

That was last season's team with its young stars on ELCs. This team is going to have up to 10 bodies who aren't on their ELCs making under $800k.

My hopes fall on finding overachievers among that group, the rapid maturity of the young stars and there being a better kind of talent mix.

 

[nobody]

IMHO this is the most talented Leaf team I've seen since, well...ever.

Agreed.


Mikheyev (15-20 G, 50-65 P) - Matthews (45-60 G, 90-110 P) - Nylander (20-30 G, 65 - 85 P) --> We need a healthy Auston and a consistent pair of AM and WN to have any shot at the high end totals.
Hyman (10-15 G, 30-40 P) - Tavares (40-50 G, 85-95 P) - Marner ( 25-35 G, 95 - 110 P) --> Need to be healthy more or less and Mitch has to sign and not pull a Willy on and off the ice.
Johnsson - 15-25 G, 35-45 P) - Kerfoot ( 10-15 G, 35-45 P) - Kapanen (15-25 G, 40-50 P) --> Very solid 3rd line with speed and scoring threats. Lots of inconsistency is likely however.
Moore (10-15 G, 15-25 P) - Spezza (10-15 G, 25-30 P) - Agostino/ Marchment/ Petan/ Aberg/ Goat (5-10 G, 15-20 P total not each) --> Spezza's babysitting services.

Rielly (10-15 G, 55-65 P) - Ceci (5-10 G, 15-25 P) --> Ceci needs to be a defensive anchor and not a plug. I think playing with an elite puck mover like Rielly will make Ceci's life much easier (he had to play with Harpur last year..)
Muzzin (5-10 G, 25-35 P) - Barrie (10-15 G, 55-65 P) --> Should be Leafs top pairing most likely.
Dermott (5-10 G, 15-20 P) - Liljegren (0-5 G, 10-15 P)/ Harpur (0-5 G, 5-10 P)/ Sandin (0-5 G, 10-15 P) --> Need a solid puck mover once Dermy is back. Gives us an excellent mobile bottom pairing.

Andersen (.915+ save hopefully)
Backup (???)

By my account the point leaders should be in the following order and all of them should have over 40 points.

Matthews/Marner
Tavares
Nylander
Mikheyev
Rielly/ Barrie
AJ/Kerf/ KK

That's 10 players who should put up over 40 points. For comparisons, last years offensive juggernaut the Tampa Bay Lightening had 9 guys with over 40 and 1 guy at 39 points. So basically 10 guys. We should have an elite top end offensive team and exceptional depth offensively as well. It will all come down to our defense holding up (which it finally should), our specialty teams not sucking (which is going to be interesting with the new hires) and FREDDY PLAYOFFS NOT SHOWING UP. We need Fred to play like he knows how in the playoffs. So far it's been 3 years and he's been the biggest reason for us winning and losing games. Typically you want your goalies to give you a chance to win every game. Freddy doesn't do that in the playoffs. Hopefully this is finally the year he overcomes those problems. Also his game 7 situations too.

 

[horner]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

Did I miss something.
He hasn't scored 30 goals in a season yet.

Would love to see him light the lamp more.

 

[hfman]

As much as Nylander is easy bait for Leaf trolls, as ugly as the negotiations were (Marner's will be worse), other than burning the 1st year of it last year, Nylander can represent a really good value contract.

People can point at the Panarin contract all they want until they are blue in the face, but if they are going to hold up as an example the poorest, most undervalued contract in the NHL as the poster for all contracts, then their posting agendas won't allow them to be taken seriously by anyone.........

Hoping Nylander lights it up this season and proves a lot of people wrong.

hope away my man

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

We could be one of the youngest teams in the league this season, even younger than the heavily re-building teams. But instead we have one of the best teams in the NHL.

How anybody could not be excited about this season is beyond me.

Nylander will return to form, maybe really surprise us if history at the world championships is an indicator. In the season following a 15+ point performace at the worlds there hasn't been a player to put up less than 74 points (Panarin) the following NHL season. Most guys end up between 85 and 100.

Get Mitch signed, get him in.

See what the D looks like, if we need an upgrade we have some prospects and 11 picks next year to work with.

 

[Funk21]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

I know it was said by Johnson but when exactly did Nylander ever hit 30 goals in the NHL?

If Nylander hits 30 and production is 70+ points all his critics will be eating crow.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I know it was said by Johnson but when exactly did Nylander ever hit 30 goals in the NHL?

If Nylander hits 30 and production is 70+ points all his critics will be eating crow.

From that clip, I'd say that what he meant was that Nylander will be back in form and hit 30 goals.

I don't think he does it, but he showed a lot of progression late last year in getting to more dangerous scoring chances and he's worked on that tendency he had to try and snipe it top corner every opportunity he got.

 

[Funk21]

From that clip, I'd say that what he meant was that Nylander will be back in form and hit 30 goals.

I don't think he does it, but he showed a lot of progression late last year in getting to more dangerous scoring chances and he's worked on that tendency he had to try and snipe it top corner every opportunity he got.

I don’t think he hits 30 either but 20+ and 70 points would be reasonable. He really has to show something this year.

In fact we really need him too to drive up his trade value. Unfortunately I think he is traded because of our cap situation. Obviously he won’t be traded for spare part but if we can get a youngish legit top 4 RHD that isn’t a defensive liability it would solidify our D Corp. Or we can blow our load on a UFA!

 

[DarkKnight]

I feel 30 goals for Nylander isn’t out of the question. Why not.

Last three seasons his shooting percentage has been below average, he just needs to adjust from always picking corners (and mostly missing) to a more “get the puck on net” mentality. Also drive the net for rebounds, with Matthews there will be a ton of juicy ones.

 

[Joey Hoser]

I feel 30 goals for Nylander isn’t out of the question. Why not.

I'd probably bet against it, only because he'll lean towards deferring to, and setting up Matthews if they're playing together.

Hypothetically, on a different line, where he's the best goal scorer, he could get 30.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I don’t think he hits 30 either but 20+ and 70 points would be reasonable. He really has to show something this year.

If fact we really need him too to drive up his trade value. Unfortunately I think he is traded because of our cap situation. Obviously he won’t be traded for spare part but if we can get a youngish legit top 4 RHD that isn’t a defensive liability it would solidify our D Corp. Or we can blow our load on a UFA!

I'm not so sure we need that anymore, not if we can keep Barrie. We'd have a top pairing guy with Liljegren coming up, and Hollowell, Lindgren, and Duszak behind him. Getting two solid bottom four shouldn't be impossible out of those four.

If we lose Barrie, I think we'll likely move Dermott over to the right side and try to get it done by committee. But the scenario of trading Nylander for a similar asset is much more plausible then.

 

[Thissiteisgarbage]

William Nylander is going to get back to 30 goals

If he's playing with Matthews all season, gets PP time and doesn't hit 30, it'd be pretty embarrassing.

 

[Nineteen67]

It’s September.....time to get rolling, time to man up.

Forget last year’s playoffs - Nylander’s going to be on fire and play like he’s capable. I see a little Forsberg coming out in him this year.
Matthews will be the power forward the Leafs need - a la Mats and Sid

 

[56 Years No Cup]

I know it was said by Johnson but when exactly did Nylander ever hit 30 goals in the NHL?

If Nylander hits 30 and production is 70+ points all his critics will be eating crow.

And I'll be the first in line.